What is Google Glass?
Google Glass is in a far
advanced stage of development by the Google X research lab, which is headed by Google
founder Sergey Brin. In recent interviews Brin told reporters that he hoped the
device will be ready to hit the market some time in 2013.
Now don't throw away your
contact lenses yet. Google glasses are used like eyeglasses, but they are not
eyeglasses. It is more a “Sci-Fi type” communication devise consisting of a
very small screen that is positioned in front of your right eye, a tiny camera
and wireless technology that is in constant contact with your cell phone. It is in effect a wearable computer/phone without
keyboard or swipe function. It is aimed to provide the user a hands-free
augmented reality experience.
Where could Google Glass be
used in logistics operations?
So, how could this type of
technology development impact logistics? It will not be used for the purpose Google
is developing it for right now, which seems to be more geared towards social
media use. But future modifications will most likely see these types of devices
being used in the logistics world. There are at least a few examples we can
think of. But most imminent are picking & packing operations. By hooking up
Google Glass type devises to WMS technology, the way information is processed
in warehouse operations could change.
Today's pick & pack
operations are pretty sophisticated already. The most common set up is that a
group of pickers collect the items in the warehouse and deliver these to a
group of packers who consolidate them into individual client orders. In most
warehouses pickers get their pick orders fed (remote or via a loading station)
to a (handheld) scanning device. The devise most of the time contains the
location of the item and the number of items for the order. The packers usually
get their information via terminals at the packing station and scan items to an
order with handheld barcode scanners.
It is likely that in the
future these handheld scanners and information devises will be replaced by an
enhanced form of the Google Glass. On the eye screen orders, picking quantities,
picking locations and special instructions are displayed which are fed directly
from the WMS via WiFi connection. Scanning of the items will take place via the
build-in camera in the glasses, which immediately updates the products stock
levels in the WMS. If the picker has any queries he or she can either directly
contact the planning office and talk to the planners via the build-in
microphone or connect to the instructions database and display information. For
packers the same concept will apply.
The benefits are that
operations can move faster as pickers and packers have both hands available.
Furthermore information can be used in a more dynamic way, it is no longer a
one way push of information, but also active information gathering by the
people on the floor will be possible. The physical operation can be augmented
by having the pickers & packers actively searching for additional
information on for instance; box sizes to be used, special handling instructions,
VAS activities, etc.
The technology is still in its
infant stage but we have seen that the speed of technology development and
adoption goes in a rapid pace these days. The interesting thing is that Google
creates most of its technology in an open source environment, which allows for
engineers across the globe to tinker with these new devices and implement new
ideas. It will only be a matter of time before we will be able to see the first
demonstrations of adapted “Glass technologies” on logistics trade fairs.
In the next article we will look into the development of Google's Driverless Car and how this could impact future logistics operations.
In the next article we will look into the development of Google's Driverless Car and how this could impact future logistics operations.
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